What's going to happen is that Russia will proceed westward, capture Kiev, and allow Poland and Lithuania (and possibly Hungary) to partition Western Ukraine and recapture the lands that Stalin took from them following WWII.

Meanwhile, Russia will administer the eastern territories, some of which will become part of Russia officially (as 4 oblasts already have) and others will remain a protectorate "buffer" between Russia and NATO - in other words, the 'territory known as Ukraine" will go back to being the literal "border land" that its name implies.

And that territory will be neutral. Which is what the nation of Ukraine was always supposed to be.

In other words - Russia will return us to a sort of status quo ante - only without a Nazi regime in Kiev.

And thus the three goals of the SMO that Putin declared last year will have been fulfilled.